National League West Preview

Pick: The Giants. Enthusiasm? Little.

Let’s start the 2010 MLB preview with the division the fewest people care about: the National League West. There simply isn’t a dominant team here; it’s debatable if there is even a “good” team among them. The Dodgers will hit, but they can’t pitch. The Giants pitch, but can’t hit. The Rockies do a little of each, but not a whole lot of either. The Diamondbacks seem to be adrift, and the Padres flat out stink. Here’s the break down, listed in order of last year’s finish.

Los Angeles Dodgers: They did not have a good Hot Stove league and are considerably weaker. And who knows what the final toll of the McCourts’ divorce will be? With Ethier, Kemp, and Manny the Dodgers have one of the best outfields in baseball. Other guys can hit too: Casey Blake, James Loney, Russ Martin. They’ll need to. Let’s just say that a staff of Billingsley, Kuroda, Padilla, and Schmidt aren’t Koufax, Drysdale, Podres, and Craig. George Sherrill can close, if he gets the chance.

The Dodgers can win if they club their way to the top. That means that Manny has to care, that Furcal isn’t (as I suspect) done, and that everyone else stays healthy. Look for lots of 9 to 7 games in Chavez Ravine.

Colorado Rockies: The Rocks remind me of recent Angels’ teams in that their staff is filled with 3-4 guys. Cook, Francis, De La Rosa, and Jiménez are decent, but they don’t induce fear. Closer Huston Street can be great; he can also cause heart attacks.

The lineup isn’t scary either, though shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is a gem. Todd Helton is on the downward slide and he’s backed by Jason Giambi, who has already fallen off the cliff. Brian Hawpe is steady and may become a beast. Then again, he might be a pussycat. Melvin Mora should help solidify the lineup.At the end of the day, though, they can only win the way they did so two years ago: if the rest of the division loses.

San Francisco Giants: They needed a couple of big bats. They got super-utility man Mark DeRosa and castoff Audrey Huff—not exactly Mays and McCovey. They’d better hope catching prospect Buster Posey is the real deal as one day Bengie Molina is going to break down. (He’s got to be 103 by now.) Freddie Sanchez, if healthy, is a monster but who is going to protect him? Aaron Rowand? Edgard Renteria?

But the Giants could pitch their way into the postseason. Matt Linceum is probably the best pitcher in MLB right now, and the guys who follow are pretty good: Cain and Sanchéz. If Barry Zito ever looks at his backside in a mirror and discovers his head peeking out, this staff could be lights-out.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Who knows? This is the most-puzzling organization in baseball. They gave up promising players in a three-way trade over the winter that yielded only Edwin Jackson, a number three pitcher, and Ian Kennedy, a pitcher the Yankees bailed on who is coming back from an aneurysm. Maybe D’backs management are geniuses, but it’s just as likely they got sucker- punched. Dan Haren is solid, but will Brandon Webb make it back from the disabled list?

If the pitching falters, the Diamondbacks will be a very bad team because their everyday lineup raises a single question: Who? Stephen Drew looks to be as overrated as his brother, and Mark Reynolds holds a record no one wants: the single-season strikeout mark. Oh yeah, they have Adam LaRoche. How could they win? A transfer to the Pacific Coast League would help. But they won’t finish last.

San Diego Padres: Ouch! They might be the worst team in all of MLB. Let’s put it this way, the projected ace of the staff would be Jon Garland. You’ve never heard of the rest of these guys and most of them are listed on the program as starting/relief pitcher. Translation: Mop-up guys with ERAs closer to double digits than to Cy Young.

The only guy you’d go to the park to see is Adrian Gonzalez and nobody thinks he’ll be there by the end of the trade deadline. After him all you have is curiosity pieces: Tony Gwynn’s kid, two guys named Hairston, a catcher who answers to Yorvit, and Chase Headley, whose claim to fame is that he doesn’t suck.

Predicted 2010 Finish:

You can flip any of the top three, but here goes:

(1) Giants (2) Dodgers (3) Rockies (4) Diamondbacks (5) Padres.